Chapter 15: Crucible of Freedom: Civil War
(1861-1865)
Introduction
ª Immediately
after Fort Sumter’s fall, volunteers flocked to the Union and Confederate
armies
ª Filled with
loyalty and patriotism for their respective sides, neither soldiers nor politicians
foresaw the long, bloody war ahead
ª As the Civil War
dragged on and on both the Union and Confederate govts. were forced to impose
the draft and adopt other policies
ª One out of every
5 soldiers who fought died
ª Most important
ª the Union, which
entered the War with no objective beyond stopping secession, discovered that in
order to win the war it also had to emancipate the slaves
Mobilizing for War
·
Union
-The federal
government had levied no direct tax structure
-Never imposed a
draft.
·
Confederacy
-No tax
structure
-No navy
-Two tiny
gunpowder factories
-Poorly equipped
-Unconnected
railroad lines.
Recruitment
and Conscription
ª North and South
alike were unprepared for war
ª In the spring of
1861, the Union had a small army
ª 16,000 who were Mostly
in the West
ª 1/3 of the Union
army officers resigned to join the Confederacy
ª
Largest
army organization created in America
ª 2 million in
Union
ª 800,000 in
Confederate
ª
Recruitment
depended on local efforts than national or state.
ª Citizens opened
recruiting offices in hometowns, held rallies, and signed up volunteers.
ª Union instituted
examinations for officers.
ª As casualties
mounted, military demand soon exceeded the supply of volunteers.
ª April 1862 : Confederacy
passed the 1st conscription law
ª New conscription
law of 1864 required all soldiers to stay in the duration of the war.
ª The act exempted
from the draft people in several occupations and those who owned or oversaw 20
or more slaves
ª The 20-Negro law
led nonslaveholders to complain that this was “a rich man’s war but a poor
man’s fight.”
ª The South
managed to procure the arms it needed but was less successful in providing its
troops with food and clothing
ª Assigned ordnance contracts to privately owned
factories like the Tredegar Iron Works in Richmond, provided loans to establish
new factories, and created government-owned industries like the giant Augusta
Powder Works in Georgia.
ª -Clothes were
more difficult:
ª Southern
soldiers frequently went without shoes
ª -Supplying the
South was difficult:
ª railroads that
fell into despair or were captured
ª an economy that
relied more heavily on producing tobacco and cotton than food.
ª It imposed the
Impressment Act in 1863
ª 1.) Allowed
govt. agents to take food supplies from farmers at a set price
ª 2.) seize slaves
to work for the army
ª This law was
hated even more than the Conscription Act
ª Union supplement
was easier
ª Enrollment Act in 1863
ª Made all
able-bodied white males ages 20-45 eligible for the draft
ª Granted
exemptions
ª 1.)Permitted men
to buy substitutes to serve in their place
ª 2.) Excused
those who paid the govt. a $300 commutation fee
ª By the war’s end
2.8 million men served on either side
Financing
the War
·
The
federal government met its revenue needs from tariff duties and income from the
sale of public lands.
·
Gross
national product rose to 15%
·
Neither
the Union nor Confederates wanted to impose tax, but did so in 1861.
ª Both sides sold
war bonds and printed unbacked paper money
ª war
bonds: loans from citizens to be repaid by future generations. But must be paid
in gold or silver coin.
ª Legal
Tender Act issued $150 million of “greenbacks”
ª Greenbacks
would only work if the public has confident in the government that issued it.
The Union officials made the greenbacks legal to pay most public and private
debts. But the Confederacy never made it legal, and suspicions rose. By
printing more money in the south, it suffered from an inflation rate over 9,000
percent!
ª Imposed stiff
new taxes to keep
ª The South
ª More reluctant
to impose and collect new taxes
ª Tried to pay its
bills by printing more and more paper money
ª Saw its currency
depreciate drastically
ª The North also
passed the National Bank Act
ª Permitted
federally chartered banks to issue national bank notes
ª Backed by the
federal govt.
Political
Leadership in Wartime
ª North (Union )
ª Lincoln faced
opposition from northern Democrats
ª Disliked the
National Bank Act
ª The draft
ª The emancipation
of slaves
ª He also faced
opposition from the Radical Republicans
ª End slavery
ª Criticized his
lenient reconstruction plans
ª Salmon Chase,
Charles Sumner, Thaddeus Stevens
ª In the face of
this opposition, Republicans rallied behind Lincoln
ª united into a
strong political entity
ª Rule federal
elections for years
ª South
(Confederate)
ª Jefferson Davis
(Confederate President) was less
successful in containing factionalism
ª Embroiled in
destructive fights with his VP (Alexander Stephens) and other states’ rights
leaders
ª The absence of
an opposition party in the South further contributed to the factionalism of the
southern Democrats
ª Davis lacked the
support to pass any measures he supported
ª Governance in
the South was often at a standstill
Securing
the Union’s Borders
ª Lincoln wanted
to protect Washington D.C.
ª Needed the
border states to stay in the Union
ª Lincoln occupied
the border states militarily and suspended the writ of habeas corpus
ª Arrested pro-secession
supporters without charge
ª The Supreme
Court in Ex parte Merryman ruled Lincoln’s actions as unconstitutional
ª Lincoln defied
the Court
ª With Lincoln’s
emergency measures, MD, DE, KY, and MO stayed in the Union
In Battle, 1861-1862
Armies,
Weapons, and Strategies
ª North’s
advantages:
ª Larger
population
ª Many more white
men of fighting age 3.5times more
ª Control of 90%
of the country’s industry
ª Control of 2/3’s
of the country’s railroad track
ª South’s
advantages:
ª Fighting a
defensive war on its home territory
ª Could use a
larger population of its white men for fighting
ª Slave labor
carried out nonmilitary activities
ª The improved
bullets and Springfield or Enfield rifles used during the Civil War increased
the infantry’s firepower
ª Reduced the
effectiveness of cavalry
ª Encouraged the
digging of trenches
ª Put a premium on
the element of surprise in an attack
ª -New
Weapons
ª Submarine,
the repeating rifle, and the multibarreled Gatling gun.
ª Trenches
provided protection against rifle fire.
ª At
the Battle of Fredericksburg, Confederate troops attacked the Union forces
uphill over open terrain.
ª At
Gettysburg, Union armies shredded the charging southerners.
Anaconda plan (Proposed
by General Winfiled Scott)
ª Union plan at
the start of the War
ª Sealing off the
South with a blockade of its coastline and cutting it in 2 by gaining control
of the Mississippi River
ª In 1861, the
Union did not yet have enough ships and troops to carry out the plan
ª Instead of the
Anaconda plan, west of the Appalachians, Union soldiers occupied KY and moved
southward into TN
ª While in the
eastern theater, the North made repeated, futile attempts to capture Richmond
Stalemate
in the East
ª Confederates beat
the Union at the first Battle of Bull Run (First Manassas) in July 21, 1861
ª Union were led
by General McDowell
ª Confederates
were led by General Beauregard and General Johnston
ª McClellan then
tried to take Richmond from the South
ª Moved his army
up the York Peninsula
ª Robert E. Lee’s
smaller Confederate army stopped McClellan
ª Lincoln called
off the Peninsula campaign
ª Then Lee and
Stonewall Jackson headed north
ª Defeated the
Union at the Second Battle of Bull Run
in Aug. 29-30, 1862
ª Continued into
western MD
ª Battle of
Antietam
ª Sharpsburg, MD
in Sept. 1862
ª Lee hoped with
this invasion to:
ª Seize needed
food
ª Threaten
Washington D.C.
ª Increase peace
sentiment in the North
ª Convince GB and
France to recognize the Confederacy
ª Union forces
under McClellan halted Lee’s advance and forced him to retreat southward
ª Turning point in
the Civil War (stopped Confederacy from advancing North)
ª Allowed Lincoln
to prepare the Emancipation Proclamation
ª 23,000 were
killed
ª Battle of Fredericksburg
ª Dec. 11-15, 1862
ª Union had about
100,000 forces
ª Led by General
Burnside
ª Confederacy had
about 72,000 forces
ª 18,000
causalities (13,000 Union)
ª Confederacy won
The
War in the West
ª The western
theater saw important Union victories
ª 1861-1862, Ulysses
S. Grant secured control of MO and KY
ª Then moved into
TN, capturing 2 key forts
ª Battle of Shiloh
ª Southern TN in April
6-7, 1862
ª 23,800 total
casualties out of 110,000 total troops
ª Union victory
ª Battle of New
Orleans
ª Naval battle
ª Union was led by
Admiral David G. Farragut
ª April 28-May 1,
1862
ª Union won
ª Union pushed
north up the Mississippi River
ª A second naval
flotilla moving southward captured Memphis
ª By 1863, the
North controlled the entire river except for a 200-mile stretch between Port
Hudson, LA and Vicksburg, MS
ª Fighting also
broke out in the trans-Mississippi West
ª Northern and
Southern forces were joined by Mexican-Americans and Indians
ª The Union
defeated the Confederates
ª much of the
Union army in the Southwest and on the Great Plains turned to the final
conquest of Native Americans
The
Soldiers’ War
ª The typical
Civil war soldier (Union or Confederate) was a volunteer
ª Came from a farm
or small town
ª Ended up serving
in the infantry
ª Usually enlisted
with visions of military glory and proving his “manhood”
ª His real war
experiences soon stripped away romantic illusions
ª Life in army
camps was tedious
ª The food was bad
in the Union army and scarce in the Confederate
ª Confederate
soldiers often lacked blankets, clothes, and shoes
ª Poor sanitation
in the camps of both armies
ª High rates of
disease, lice, flies, ticks, and rats
ª The casualty
rates in battles were horrendous
ª Shiloh and
Antietam were the worst
ª In their letters
home, Confederate soldiers often claimed to be fighting for southern rights and
to protect slavery
ª Union soldiers
at first said little about abolishing slavery
ª but mentioned
the need for emancipation more often as the war continued
ª either for
humanitarian reasons or as the best way to defeat the South
Ironclads
and Cruisers: The Naval War
ª The Union
gradually tightened its blockade
ª It further
disrupted foreign trade vital to the Confederacy
ª Captured ports
and coastal areas
ª Confederate
attempts to break the stranglehold with an ironclad ship led to the Battle of
the Merrimac and the Monitor in March 8-9, 1862
ª Merrimac=Confederacy
ª Monitor=Union
ª Was a draw
The
Diplomatic War
ª The Confederacy
tried to convince France and Britain that it was in their interests to extend
diplomatic recognition
ª Hoping to
establish a colonial empire in Mexico, Napoleon III of France had grounds to
welcome a permanent division in the United States
ª The South
expected active help from the British, who desperate for the South’s cotton,
might be counted on to break the Union blockade
ª There was
tension between the Union and the British over the Trent affair
ª Confederate
diplomats were captured by the British
ª USA was
concerned if the British had a right to capture the diplomats
ª British let them
go after about 2 weeks
ª Tension also
over the commerce raiders and rams built for the Confederacy in England
ª But the South’s
“cotton diplomacy” failed
ª The British had
stockpiles of cotton on hand at the start of the war and then found alternative
sources of cotton supplies
ª Lincoln’s
Emancipation Proclamation won British sympathy for the Union
ª Turned the
struggle into a war against slavery
Emancipation Transforms the War, 1863
ª From
Confiscation to Emancipation
ª In his inaugural
address, Lincoln proclaimed that he had no intention of interfering with slavery
in the South
ª Whenever Union
armies approached, slaves fled to them
ª Some commanders
refused to return them to their masters
ª Called them
contrabands of war
ª First
Confiscation Act in Aug. 1861
ª Congress backed
the no-return policy
ª Stopped short of
freeing the slaves
ª Lincoln at first
resisted calls for emancipation
ª He did not want
to push the border slave states into secession
ª He also knew
many northerners feared that freedmen might come north and compete for jobs
ª Radical
Republicans demanded immediate emancipation
ª pointed out that
the South’s use of slave labor was helping it militarily
ª After early
Union defeats, many northerners agreed that it was necessary to strike a blow
against slavery to beat the Confederacy
ª Second
Confiscation Act
ª July 1862
ª Authorized
freeing slaves who came within Union lines
ª Also authorized
using black soldiers
ª Lincoln
hesitated a while longer to enforce this law
ª Lincoln failed
to persuade Union slave states to accept federally compensated abolition
ª Lincoln drafted
his Emancipation Proclamation
ª It stated that
as of Jan. 1, 1863, all slaves in areas then in rebellion were “forever free”
ª It only applied
in areas not controlled by the Union
ª At first it
freed no slaves
ª Issuing it was a
masterful move:
ª It satisfied
Radical Republicans
ª Appealed to
antislavery sentiment in GB and France
ª Forestalling
their recognition of the Confederacy
ª Encouraged
slaves to run away and join the Union army
Crossing
Union Lines
ª By 1865 about
half a million former slaves were in Union-held territory
ª Some worked for
the army
ª Others worked
for loyal planters
ª Others worked on
abandoned plantation lands
ª Many Union
soldiers were bitterly prejudiced against blacks
ª began to change
their attitudes as black spies and scouts helped them
ª Freedmen’s aid
societies in the North sent agents into the South to distribute relief and open
schools
ª Freedmen’s
Bureau
ª March 1865 Created
by Congress
ª Help former
slaves by:
ª Educate
ª Dispense relief
ª Find employment
ª Congress also
stipulated that 40 acres of abandoned property or confiscated land could be
leased to each freedman with an option to buy after 3 years
Black
Soldiers in the Union Army
ª After Lincoln
issued the Emancipation Proclamation, large numbers of blacks were accepted in
the Union army
ª By 1865, 186,000
blacks had served
ª Made-up 1/10 of
all Union soldiers
ª The black troops
suffered much discrimination
ª Placed in
segregated regiments
ª Commanded by
white officers
ª Received less
pay
ª Suffered a
higher mortality rate than whites
ª Despite unfair
treatment, they served the Union well
ª When black
soldiers were captured by the South, they were not treated as POW’s.
ª They were sent
back to their states to be re-enslaved or executed
Slavery
in Wartime
ª Southerners
attempted to maintain control over their slaves by:
ª stepping up
patrols
ª telling slaves
horror stories about the Yankees
ª moving slaves
far from Union lines
ª Nonetheless,
slaves ran to Union camps
ª Others remained
on the plantation doing little or no work
ª Near the end of
the War the Confederate congress passed a bill to arm 300 slave soldiers
ª The plan was
never put into effect
The
Turning Point of 1863
ª In the summer
and fall of 1863, the Union scored important victories
ª Lee’s invasion
of the North was turned back at Gettysburg in July
ª Simultaneously,
Grant took Vicksburg, and Port Hudson fell to another Union force
ª The North then
controlled the whole Mississippi River
ª In September,
the North also routed the Confederacy from Chattanooga
ª Cleared the way
for Union troops to invade GA
War and Slavery, North and South
The
War’s Economic Impact: The North
ª War-related
industries and the railroads boomed
ª The
Republican-dominated Congress enacted measures that encouraged further business
development:
ª Raising tariffs
ª Chartering and
granting land and loans to the Union Pacific and Central Pacific railroad
corporations
ª Build a
transcontinental line
ª Creating a new
national banking system
ª Other
legislation benefited the West
ª Homestead Act
(1862)
ª 160 acres of
land in the West
ª Morrill Land
Grant Act (1862)
ª Set up
universities
ª Military tactics,
engineering, and agriculture
ª MSU, WI, KY,
PSU, IA State
ª Everyone did not
benefit equally from the rising economy
ª Manufactures and
speculators made fat profits
ª Workers’ wages
lagged behind inflation
ª Women received
less pay than males
ª Workers
protested their economic lot by forming national unions
The
War’s Economic Impact: The South
ª The war
destroyed the South’s economy
ª Wrecked
railroads
ª Cut its cotton
and food production
ª Food shortages
worsened the South’s already rampant inflation
ª Also it caused
such hardships for soldiers’ families that many Confederates deserted to try to
provide for their wives and children
ª Some food was
supplied through a flourishing cotton trade with the enemy
Dealing
with Dissent
ª The Union and
the Confederacy both faced internal dissent
ª In the South
ª Nonslaveholders
with Unionist sentiments and states’ rights politicians denounced Jefferson
Davis’s govt.
ª On the whole,
the Confederate govt. took little action against these dissidents
ª In the North
ª Peace Democrats
(Cooperheads) criticized the Emancipation Proclamation
ª Demanded an
immediate peace settlement with the South
ª Had their
strongest following in the border states, in the Midwest, and among immigrant
workers in northeastern states
ª Attempts to
begin drafting men in July 1863 sparked riots in NYC
ª Had to be
quelled by federal troops
ª Lincoln
suspended the writ of habeas corpus
ª Imposed martial
law
ª Lincoln’s
actions lead to the Supreme Court case Ex parte Milligan (1866)
ª The justices
ruled that civilians cannot be tried by military tribunals when the regular
civil courts are open
The
Medical War
ª U.S. Sanitary
Commission
ª Formed by
northern citizens
ª A civilian
organization that raised money for medical supplies
ª Also distributed
extra food and medicine to army camps
ª 3,200 women
volunteered their services as nurses (both sides)
ª Dorothea Dix and
Clara Barton
ª Later founded
the American Red Cross
ª Limited
knowledge about sanitation and germs led to a frightful toll from disease and
infected wounds
ª Conditions in
prisoner-of-war camps were particularly grim
ª Andersonville,
GA
ª Most notorious
ª Confederate
prison camp
The
War and Women’s Rights
ª Women’s rights
hoped that the war would win equality for women as well as blacks
ª National Women’s
Loyal League
ª 1863
ª Formed by
Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony
ª Campaigned for
amendments ending slavery and granting blacks and women the vote
ª The Civil War
did not change women’s inferior political status
The Union Victorious, 1864-1865
The
Eastern Theater in 1864
ª In 1864, Lincoln
put Ulysses S. Grant in command of all Union armies
ª Grant moved his
headquarters to the eastern theater
ª Proceeded to
attack Lee in VA
ª At the same
time, Grant ordered General Sherman to invade GA
ª Union
experienced heavy casualties at the Battle of the Wilderness, Spotsylvania, and
Cold Harbor
ª Grant continued
to press forward
ª Forced Lee to
pull back to trenches outside of Petersburg and Richmond
ª Grant dispatched
another Union force under Philip Sheridan
ª Devastated and
conquered the Shenahoah Valley
ª While Grant
battled Lee in the Wilderness, Sherman advanced relentlessly into GA
ª Confederate
forces had to evacuate Atlanta
ª Fell to Sherman
in Sept. 1864
The
Election of 1864
ª Lincoln faced a
tough fight
ª First from the
Radical Republicans
ª nominate Salmon
Chase
ª Then from peace Democrats
ª Nominated George
McClellan
ª To win the votes
of pro-war Democrats and Lincoln and the Republicans nominated pro-war
Tennessee Unionist, Andrew Jackson for VP
ª Sherman’s
capture of Atlanta in Sept. clinched Lincoln’s victory in Nov.
ª Following the election,
Congress passed the 13th Amendment
ª Abolition of
slavery
ª Ratified by the
end of 1865
Sherman’s
March Through Georgia
ª After burning
march of Atlanta, Sherman marched across GA to Savannah
ª His army lived
off the countryside and seized or destroyed everything of possible military
value
ª In Dec. 1864,
Sherman took Savannah and turned north to SC
ª The destruction
visited on SC was even greater than GA
ª Climaxed with
the gutting of the Columbia (the capital of SC)
ª Sherman then
continued into NC
Toward
Appomattox
ª While Sherman
swung north, Grant close in on Lee’s army
ª By spring 1865,
Confederate morale had broken and men were deserting in droves
ª On April 3,
Grant entered Richmond
ª Lee made a last
attempt to escape from the Union army
ª Soon Lee
surrendered to Grant at Appomattox Courthouse
ª Within a month
all remaining Confederate resistance ended
ª On April 14,
1865, John Wilkes Booth shot Lincoln
ª Lincoln died the
next day
ª Andrew Johnson
became President
The
Impact of the War
ª The Civil War
killed some 620,000 Americans
ª More than any
other war the nation has fought
ª It ruined the
southern economy but stimulated industrialization and capital in the North
ª While the Civil
War did not wipe out the states’ rights doctrine, it did greatly strengthen the
federal govt.
ª There would be
no more attempts at secession
ª The War ended
ended slavery
ª But it left
undecided the future of 3.5 million freedmen
Conclusion
ª Historians still
debate the question of why the North won the Civil War
ª Certainly the
North had great advantages over the Confederacy in manpower, industry and
railroads
ª But it also had
a much tougher task than the Confederacy
ª To win, the
North had to invade and conquer the South and destroy it armies and resources
ª The South had
only to fight a defensive war on its home ground
ª Keeping its
territory and armies intact until the Union tired of struggle and accepted
secession
ª Some historians
attribute the North’s victory primarily to the Confederacy’s internal
weaknesses
ª Still others say
the North prevailed because it won key battles, but often not by much
ª Therefore,
chance played an important part in the outcome
ª Whatever the
reasons for the Union’s triumph the legacy of the Civil War is clearer
ª It ended slavery
ª Forged a
stronger federal govt.
ª Weakened states’
rights
ª Heightened
nationalism
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